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(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Fr M. & w. W. TYLER. SWI TGH GJPERATING MEGHANISM FOR STREET RAILWAY8 Na. 606,433.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

PM. & W. W. TYLER. SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM FOR STREET RAILWAYS.

No. 606,433. Patented June 28,1898.

Till" 1 mil IT STATES FnA voIs M. TYLER AND WILLIAM w. TYLER, or AUBURNDALE,

MASSACHUSETTS.

SWITCH-OPERATING MECHANISM FOR STREET-RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 6062433, dated June 28, 1898.

Application filed December 22,1897. Serial No. 662,967. (No model.) V

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANCIS M. TYLER and WVILIJIAM WV. TYLER, of Auburndale, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Switch-Operating Mechanism for Street-Railways, of which the following description, in

representing like parts.

Our invention is an improvement in street railway-switch-operating devices, and has for its object the provision of simple means for enabling the driver or motorman of a streetcar to reverse at will any switch just before his car reaches it.

Many devices have been proposed for accomplishingthe general object above mentioned; but, so far as we are aware, such devices have .beeninvariably complex or else entirely impracticable for the requirements of actual service. Accordingly we have devised the mechanism as more particularly. set forth hereinafter, by means of which extreme simplicity, strength,durability, and elfe ctiveness are attained, together with certainty of operation, minimum cost of production and maintenance, ease of operation, and adapta-.

bility to usual switch-points and railway connections. i

In general our invention comprises a rotary drum and beveled spur-wheel at one side of one of the rails forming the track, preferably at the inner side of the right-handrail approaching the switch, in connection with a rock-shaft provided with divergent arms, one of which engages a cam-groove in said drum and the other of which is connected with the switch-point, our invention also preferably including electric devices for preventing the clogging or stoppage of parts by snow and ice and other details for keeping out water, mud,

and moisture. p

By our invention the switch can be positively thrown in either direction at will by a" special device on the approaching car, and the latter will be automatically restored to its normal position immediately upon having thrown the switch.

The details of construction of our invention andvarious other advantages thereof will be pointed out in the course of the following de scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of our invention, Figure 1 is a top plan view thereof, parts being broken away. Fig.2 is'a side elevation thereof, parts being shown in longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 3 isalongitudinal vertical section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged broken detail in section taken on the dotted line 4. 4, Fig. 1. taken on the line 5 5, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line 6 6, Fig. 1. i

The main rail A, siding-rail A, and switch- 7 point A pivoted at a, may be and are of usual construction, being herein 'shown as embedded in usual street-paving blocks B. At one side, preferably the inner side of the rail A, we provide a channeled block 0, herein I shown as formed integral with the rail and as having a flaring lip c at its forward end away from the switch-point, and adjacent its other end is provided with an incline, c, said channeled block being preferably deflected, as shown at 0 at its end nearer the switch.

Ina suitable housing adjacent the block 0 we have mounted a drum D, having a peripheral camgroove d, herein shown as serpentine in its course and as provided with alternate high and low dwells or straight portions (Z 61 for a purpose presently to be described. At its upper end the drum D is provided with a plurality of arms or spurs (1 said spurs being herein shown as carried by a wheel d ,altho igh they may, if desired, be.

Each

formed integral with the drum itself. spur has a radial face or edge 01 and a beveled edge at, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1, these arms being of sufficient length to project through a slot 0? in the outer rib or wall of the ehannel.-block C and extend across the channelthereof to be struck byv a tappet on the car, as will be presently explained.

The object of the bevel d taken in, connection with the particular lOGZttlOIliOf the parts'as described, is to provide automatic means for removing dirt, stones, slush, or other debris from the channel and in front of the ratchet=wheel or drum-arms. As the latter are revolved they slide against any obstruction which may have lodged in their path and remove it with a forcible wedging action, not only thereby automatically clearing their own path, but shoving the obstruction away from the drum. This feature of our invention is of much importance from a practioalstandpoint. i The housing and drum are of special construction, with a view absolutely to preclude all possibility of the clogging of the moving parts by the entrance of snow, water, &c.

' Referring to Figs. 3 and 6, it will be seen that we have provided a, special. housing,

shown as comprising opposite castingsE E, bolted together at e and having internal annular ribs 6 projecting upwardly from the bottom thereof to cooperate with the downwardly-projecting flanges or eaves (Z on the drum for sheddingwater, and inwardly-extending top flanges 6 having annular ribse ontheir upper surfaces to enter correspondin g grooves d in the wheel 61*, a flanged coverplate 6 being bolted at e to the housing and completing the inclosure for'the drum. By this construction it will be evident that no dirt and slush can work into the mechanism, for the reason that its entrance is prevented in the first place by the joint of the cover with the housing and in the next place by the interlocked rib and groove e d and if any moisture should work beyond that point it would be deflected by the eaves d of the drum and fall outside of the flange e, whence it would find an outlet through the opening e, Fig. 6. d

In order to prevent the possibility of any moisture freezing between the moving parts, so as to clog and render them inoperative, We have provided an electric heater 0", held by brackets c beneath the flange 6 so as to maintain more or less warmth in the adjacent parts by the passage of an electric current through the coil of the heater.

Inthecam-groove d of the drum an arm f of a rock-shaft F operates the various inclines of the cam-groove, serving to rock said shaft in an obvious manner.

The rock-shaft F is herein shown as carried bya tubular jacket f, bolted at f to the web of the adjacent rail, said jacket having a'laterally-flared portion f at the end thereof adjacent the switch, in which plays an arm f of'the rock-shaft, loosely connected at f to a slide-bar f, resting in a recess a formed in the bed of the switch, said slide-bar being connected to the switch-point A bya removable pin f so that any movement of the slide-bar f causes similar movement of the switch-point.

Adjacent the moving parts of the switch we provide an electric heater a in order to prevent any freezing and clogging thereof.

Referring again to Figs. 3 and 6, the car device for operating the switch is shown as comprising a rock-shaft g, provided at its forward end with a'rock-arm g and at its rear per end against a plate g on the trip, and.

thereby tending normally to hold said trip in raised position. The rock-shaft is operated by a plunger 9 resting loosely on the arm 9, said plunger comprising a smooth shank g and flathead g, simply inserted in the floor it of thecar. The object of this simple construction is to permit thedriver or motorman to insert the plunger quickly at either end of the car, itjbeing understood thatsimilar car devices are provided at each end of the car, so that upon insertion of the plun ger the car device is ready for operation and upon removal of the plunger the car device is rendered entirely inoperative, so that a passenger or meddler cannot interfere therewith.

The operation of our invention is as follows:

The motorman having placed the plunger g at theforward end of the car, as shown in Fig. 3, willwhen he nears the switch observe Whether the latter is properly placed in the direction in which his car should go, and if it is not he simply presses with his foot on the head 9 of the plunger, and thereby depresses the trip lever g the latter being locked in depressed position by the detent 9 As the car moves forward the lower end of the lever 9 enters the channel-block C and engages a projecting arm d of the wheel (1 thereby rotating the drum D the proper distance to rock the rock -shaft F, moving its arm J" from an upper dwell d toa lower dwell 61 or vice versa. This movement communicates a similar movement to the arm f4 and,

through the medium of the slide-block f,

shifts the switch-point from its previous po'- sition to an opposite position, so that if it was previously set for the main, line it now becomes set for the siding, or vice versa. As the car moves forward the depending end of the trip-lever g is deflected by the bend in s the channel-block, so as to disengage it from the detent g and permit the coiled spring 9 to restore it instantly to its raised position, and

simultaneously therewith the incline c raises it, so that it cannot by any possibility come in contact with the paving-stones and be damaged, and in case the spring g should become broken or should be omitted the incline alone will serve to restore the trip-lever to its original position. In fact, if desired, the bend 0 may also be omitted, and the incline calone.

depended upon to restore the lever g as will be readily understood. As the Wheel 01 is rotated by the trip-lever its inclined sides (Z successively .brush away all foreign matter which may have lodged in the channel-block,

thereby automatically clearing the way themselves without extraneous appliances, and, as

before explained, if by any chance any for-1 eign matter should get into "the inclosure of shaft extending between and journaled ad the drum it would be effectually prevented from inconveniencing the latter by reason of the several flanges, eaves, 850., before explained in detail. Furthermore, our invention is as readily operable in winter as in sum-' mer, for the reason that the heater devices, located as they are directly adjacent the moving parts, effectually prevent any freezing thereof. a

By reason of the flat portions or dwells cl 01 th e-swi'tch' is positively locked in the positions of extreme throw in either direction.

One point of considerable advantage in our invention resides in having the switch-point instantly detachable from the automatic operating mechanism described, this being accomplished simply by taking out theremovahle pin f Under certain circumstances itis obvious that it is desirable to be able to shift the switch for a time without operating the,

ratchet-wheel, and our invention renders this perfectly feasible for one movement only of the switch, if desired, or for many movements thereof, if required. I

A main object had'in viewin our invention is to provide mechanism of extreme simplicity and such that the pavement need not be disturbed therefor to any greater extent than would be required for laying the usual track itself, and we have accomplised this by providing the simple mechanism shown and already described, which is located compactly against the rail, the rock-shaft F being carried directly against the web of the rail, as stated, so that it occupies a space withinand above the base of the rail, thereby requiring no more space for its insertion than the rail itself requires. n

It will be understood while we have herein shown a preferred embodiment of our invention we are not restricted thereto, but that many changes in details of structure andarrangement and combination of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention.

Having fully described ourinvention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is-

1. An automatic switch-operating device for street-railways, comprising a channelblock next to a rail of the track, an arm projecting horizontally across said channelblock, an inclined cam connected to and operatedby said arm, a switch-point, a rockjacent said switch-point and said cam'and having at its ends lateral arms, one in engagement with said cam and the other connected to said switch-point, whereby movement of said horizontal arm, and thereby of said cam, serves to rock said shaft axially and shiftsaid switch, substantially as described.

2. An automaticswitch-operating device ;for street -railways, comprising a channeL jblock adjacent a railof the track, an armpro' fleeting across said channel-block, aninclined jcam connected to and operated by said arm, a switch-point, a rock-shaft extending from said switch-point to said cam and havinglat- ;eral arms,'one in. engagement with said cam.

and the other connected to said switch-point, whereby movement of said arm,a nd thereby of said cam, serves to rock said shaft and shift said switch, said cam having a dwell at the opposite ends of its incline, said dwell cooperating with the adjacent arm of the rock- }shaft, to hold the same rigid and thereby lock 1 l the switch-point, substantially as described.

3. An automatic switch-operating device for 'streeterailways, comprising a channelblock adjacent a track-trail, a vertical drum carrying a wheel provided with arms extending horizontally across said channel-block,

said arms having theirforward sides slopingrearwardly relatively to the length of the channel in all positions of the arms therein,

said rearwardly-sloping sides automatically remove foreign matter, a switch-point, and

connections between said drum and said switch-point for operating the latter by movement of the former, substantially as de-Q scribed.

4. An automatic switch-operating device whereby upon forward rotation of saidwheel said beveled sides automatically'pus'h foreign matter ahead along the channel, a switch point, a rock-shaft extending between said drum and said switch-point, said rock-shaft having an arm at one end in engagement with 9 whereby upon forward rotation of said wheel IIO and actuated by said cam-groove, and an-arm at its other end in connection with and to actuate said switch-point, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, arockshaft, means to rock the same by the passage of a car, a switch-point, a slide connected to said rock-shaft and connected to said switch point, and means for instantly connecting or disconnecting said slide from said switchpoint, substantially as described. n n

6. In a device of the class described, a drum, operating means therefor, a switch-point, connections between said drum and switch-point for operating the latter from the former, and a housing for said drum, said drum hav ing an outwardly projecting and depending flange, and said housing having an upwardlyprojecting flange beneath and overhung by said drum-flange, for afiording thelatter free movement clear of all foreign matter, substantially as described.

7. a In a device of the class described, a drum, operating means therefor, a switch-point, connections between said drum and switch-point for operating the latter from the former, and a housing for said drum, said housing having at its upper end anannular flange adjacent said drum, said flange being provided with a rib, and said drum having an overhanging wheel provided with a recess to interlock with said rib, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the class described, a drum, operating means therefor, a switch-point, connections between said drum and switch-point for operating the latter from the former, and a housing for said drum, said housing having at its upper end an annular flange adjacent said drum, said flange being provided with a rib, and said drum having an overhanging Wheel provided with a recess to interlock with said rib,brackets beneath said annular flange, and an electric heater held in said bracket adjacent the wall of said housing, to maintain the latter and adjacent parts normally heated, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a device of the class described, a drum, operating means therefor, a swii ch-point, connections between said drum and switch-point for operating the latter from theformer, and a housing for said drum, said housing having at its upper end an annular flange adjacent said drum, said flange being provided with a rib, and said drum having an overhanging wheel provided with a recess to interlock with said rib, brackets beneath said annular flange, and an electric heater held in said bracket adjacent the wall of said housing, to maintain the latter and adjacent parts normally heated, recesses adjacent the switchpoint, and an electric heater in said recess to maintain the parts adjacent the moving switch-point in heated connection, as and for the purpose set forth.

10. In a device of the class described, a switch-point,a rock-shaft to operate the same, means to actuate said rock-shaft, and a tube inclosing said rock-shaft, said tube being secured adjacent the web of a track-rail, be-

for, connections between said cam and said switch-point, an arm carried by said cam, a channel-block adjacent a track-rail, said arm projecting across said channel-block, the channel of the latter extending parallel to the rail for the main part of its length, and having at its forward end a lateral bend away from the rail, combined with a car device comprising a depending arm, and means to raise and lower said arm, the latter when in its lowered position being adapted to travel in said channel and thereby actuate the arm carried by said cam, said car device being provided with a spring normally tending to raise said arm, and a detent arranged to engage and hold said arm depressed, said bentaway part of said channel disengaging said arm from said detent and permitting the spring to restore the arm to its raised position, substantially as described.

12. The herein-described car device, comprising a rock-shaft, arms extending there from at its opposite ends, a plunger engaging one of said arms and adapted to be depressed by thefoot, a depending arm connected to the free end of the second arm of said rock-shaft, a spring normally holding said depending arm in raised position, and a detent adapted to engage and hold said depending arm in depressed position, substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

' FRANCIS ll/L'TYLER.

WVILLIAM W. TYLER.

Witnesses:

GEo. H. MAXWELL, GEO. W. GREGORY. 

